Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse

The city of Tova, center of a great empire, is preparing to celebrate a Convergence, a solar eclipse. But not all elements are planning to celebrate in the same way. While the Sun Priest hopes to usher in a new era of the Watchers actually providing a service for the people of Tova beyond sitting in their secluded tower and issuing proclamations, there's a man named Serapio on his way to Tova that is part of a much different plan for the momentous day.

This is the first book in a trilogy, and it mostly focuses on the 20 days prior to the Convergence, as the Sun Priest Naranpa finds herself under siege from threats within the tower and without. She's a reformer who believes the priests can and should still serve a purpose. So she annoys the traditionalists who are fine doing the minimum and reaping the rewards, and the people who want to scrap the entire system and start over.

Nobody likes a centrist, though I did like Naranpa. She's written as a bit of an idealist, so we can see she actually wants to use her position to help people. At the same time, she's tried to bury her past as a child of the "Dry Earth" district, when all the other priests are "Sky Made." There's a class element to the resistance against her as well, and I'm curious if that's explored further in the later books. Roanhorse successfully builds the suspense and the threat, highlighting danger from one direction, while offering just enough doubt the reader isn't sure if Naranpa can trust the people she does.

The other half of the book is Serapio's journey to Tova, which is interspersed with flashbacks of all the people that have built him up to this moment, starting with his mother. It's poignant, and a bit intimidating that all these people have done their best to turn him into a weapon for their revenge. At times, Serapio's able to rationalize it as his destiny, or that he's becoming a god.

During the journey he develops a connection with Xiala, the boat captain who is from a group of people called The Teek. Xiala's people have their own form of magic, but she's exiled. So Roanhorse plays the contrast between Xiala, who can't go home to her people (the whys are currently unrevealed), and Serapio going "home" to a people he's never really met, to act as a doorway for their benefit. You don't really see his dedication waver, but there's enough uncertainty to create doubt as to what exactly is going to happen.

"Why didn't you go?" Serapio asked. "She seemed very interested in you."

"Shut up," she muttered, pushing him forward into the now-empty room. "Apparently, I don't want to have a good time with fun attractive people. I want to sit morosely in an empty room and drink alone with you instead."